Nail polish bottle cap with integral gel curing light

ABSTRACT

A nail polish bottle cap of a gel nail polish bottle includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion of the cap is arranged to screw on to the top of a nail polish bottle and carries a brush suitable for applying nail polish. The second portion of the cap presents a UV LED light which is suitable for illuminating a fingernail or a toenail which has been freshly coated with gel nail polish for the purpose of curing the gel nail polish. A user may apply gel polish from the bottle to a fingernail or toenail and then activate the UV LED light of the second portion, position the UV LED light to illuminate the surface of the nail which has been coated with fresh uncured gel nail polish in order to cure the gel nail polish.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/111,400 filed on Feb. 3, 2015 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/152,376 filed on Apr. 24, 2015, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

This invention relates to a nail polish bottle cap which includes at least one integral ultra-violet (UV) light emitting diode (LED) light which is suitable for illuminating a human fingernail or toenail which has been freshly coated with gel nail polish for the purpose of curing the gel nail polish.

BACKGROUND

Gel nail polish is known for its durability. Typically, because the process for applying and curing of gel polish is relatively technical, most gel nail polish is applied and cured by professionals in nail salons. As is the case with conventional nail polish, gel nail polish is typically brushed on as a thick, viscous liquid. However, unlike conventional nail polish, gel polish will not cure merely because it is exposed to air. To cure, gel polish must be exposed to ultra-violet (UV) light. Because UV light occurs naturally in sunlight, the inside surfaces of a gel nail polish bottle are usually coated with a light blocking black coating in order to prevent the gel polish within the bottle from slowly curing. Accordingly, once gel polish is applied to a fingernail or toenail, the customer typically places the fingernail or toenail under an UV light emitting gel curing lamp for a pre-determined period of time in order to cure the gel polish. Once cured, gel polish provides a durable attractive, decorative coating.

Gel curing lamps are typically arranged for table-top use and are usually about as large as a shoe box. Gel curing lamps usually cost hundreds of US dollars and are usually purchased and used by professional nail salon operators. Therefore, the times and places in which gel polish can be applied and cured is generally limited to the times and places when and where gel curing lamps are available. Accordingly, a need exists for an extremely compact and inexpensive gel curing device that may be used by individuals to cure gel polish when a gel curing lamp is not available.

SUMMARY

The above described need is addressed by a nail polish bottle cap which includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is arranged to screw on to the top of a nail polish bottle and carries a brush suitable for applying nail polish. The second portion of the bottle cap presents a UV LED light which is suitable for illuminating a fingernail or a toenail which has been freshly coated with gel nail polish for the purpose of curing the gel nail polish. The second portion of the bottle cap also includes a battery and a switched circuit which includes the battery and the UV LED light. The circuit is able to be switched between an open state wherein the UV LED light is not activated and a closed state wherein the UV LED light is activated. A user may apply gel polish from the bottle to a fingernail or toenail and then activate the UV LED light of the second portion, position the UV LED light to illuminate the surface of the nail which has been coated with fresh uncured gel polish in order to cure the gel nail polish.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a nail polish bottle which includes one embodiment of the gel curing nail polish bottle cap.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of a nail polish bottle which includes one embodiment of the gel curing nail polish bottle cap shown with a second portion of the nail polish cap separated from a first portion of the nail polish bottle cap.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the one embodiment of the gel curing nail polish bottle cap second portion.

FIG. 4 is a perspective of a nail polish bottle which includes one embodiment of the gel curing nail polish bottle cap shown with part of the nail polish bottle cap second portion cut away in order to show the interior of the nail polish bottle cap second portion as well as the bottle cap first portion.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bottle cap second portion showing a battery compartment cover in a first position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bottle cap second portion showing the battery compartment cover between the first position and a second position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the bottle cap second portion showing the battery compartment cover between the second position.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the bottle cap second portion showing the battery compartment cover after the battery compartment cover has been rotated to a third position and removed to expose the battery compartment.

FIG. 9 is a side perspective of a nail polish bottle which includes one embodiment of the gel curing nail polish bottle cap shown with part of the nail polish bottle cap second portion cut away in order to show the interior of the nail polish bottle cap second portion.

FIG. 10 is a side perspective cut away view of the second portion of the nail polish bottle cap.

FIG. 11 is a side perspective cut away side view of the nail polish bottle and the first and second portions of the nail polish bottle cap.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a finger with a fingernail receiving a coating of gel nail polish and the second portion of the nail polish bottle cap.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a finger with a fingernail having received a fresh coating of gel nail polish and the second portion of the nail polish bottle cap.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a finger with a fingernail having received a fresh coating of gel nail polish and the second portion of the nail polish bottle cap with the tip of the finger inserted into the second portion of the nail polish bottle cap proximate to the UV LED light.

FIG. 15 is a cut away side view showing a finger with a fingernail having received a fresh coating of gel nail polish and the second portion of the nail polish bottle cap with the tip of the finger inserted into the second portion of the nail polish bottle cap proximate to the UV LED light.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing the circuit for powering the UV LED light.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the gel curing fingernail polish bottle cap 10 shown screwed onto a nail polish bottle 2 which is of a type well known to those skilled in the art. As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, bottle cap 10 includes a first portion 12 and a second portion 20. Preferably, the lower end of first portion 12 presents female threads (not shown) suitable for engaging corresponding male threads (not shown) which are presented around the upper opening of bottle 2. As is typical for nail polish bottle caps known in the art, a brush stem 14 is fixed to and extends from first portion 12. As is also well known in the art, the distal end of brush stem 14 presents a polish brush or applicator 14B.

Second portion 20 of bottle cap 10 may be best understood by referring to FIGS. 3-15. Second portion 20 is arranged to selectively connect and disconnect from first portion 12. In FIGS. 3 and 4, one embodiment is shown wherein first portion 12 includes a cap portion 12C. As is shown in FIG. 4, in this example, the side surface 12S of cap portion 12C is in the shape of a frustum of a cone and therefore may be described as a frusto-conical surface. In this example, cap portion also has a flat top surface 12T. As is shown in FIG. 3, second portion 20 presents internal inwardly extending radial ribs 22 which present side surfaces 22S and top edge surfaces 22T which fit against side and top surfaces 12S and 12T respectively of cap portion 12C. (Radial ribs 22 are omitted in FIG. 4 for clarity.) Preferably, in this example, the fit between surfaces 22S and 22T and surfaces 12S and 12T has a slight degree of interference so that some pressure is needed to remove second portion 20 from first cap portion 12C. However, as the skilled reader would appreciate, any one of a number arrangements may be employed for selectively attaching second portion 20 to cap portion 12C. Most of first and second portions 12 and 20 are preferably fashioned from injection molded plastic or a similar material with the exception of components such as UV LED lights 26 and metallic components associated with UV LED lights 26, switches, batteries and the like as will be described below.

As can be seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 9-15, second portion 20 presents a cavity 24. As can be seen in FIGS. 12-15, cavity 24 of second portion 20 is suitable for receiving the distal end of a finger F. As can be best seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 11-15 in this one embodiment, two side by side UV LED lights 26 are mounted to the inside wall 20W of second portion 20. UV LED light 26 is connected by leads 26L in a switchable circuit to a set of three batteries 28B. In this example, batteries 28B are received in a battery compartment 28C near the upper end of second portion 20.

As can be seen in FIGS. 5-8, second portion 20 also includes a battery compartment cover 30 which rotatably engages the upper end of second portion 20. Compartment cover 30 is able to rotate about an axis A (indicated in FIG. 5) between the positions described below because battery compartment 28B presents a set of male threads 28BT (which can be best seen in FIG. 8) and battery compartment cover 30 engages battery compartment 28B with a corresponding set of female threads 30T (which can be best seen in cross section in FIG. 10) thus making it possible to rotate battery compartment cover 30 and even remove battery compartment 30 as described below.

In this example, when battery compartment cover 30 is not rotated and left in its initial first position as shown in FIG. 5, the circuit including UV LED lights 26, leads (not shown) and batteries 28B is open so that UV LED lights 26 are off. In FIG. 5, axis of rotation A is indicated and a point P is arbitrarily selected and indicated to indicate the relative position of battery compartment cover 30 and the remainder of second portion 22 in each of FIGS. 5-8. In FIG. 6, the position of point P indicates that battery compartment cover has been rotated about 45 degrees clockwise from the first position shown in FIG. 5 or, in other words, about half way between the first position shown in FIG. 5 and the second position shown in FIG. 7. When battery compartment cover 30 has been rotated approximately 90 degrees clockwise (when viewed from the top) to the second position shown in FIG. 7, the circuit including UV LED lights 26 and batteries 28B is closed causing lights 26 to be turned on. A schematic diagram of the UV LED light circuit is given in FIG. 16. As can be seen in FIG. 16, UV LED light 26 is connected by conducting line 26A to battery 26B in a circuit which is interrupted by a switch 30S. Switch 30S is closed when a first contact 26AC associated with conducting line 26A is in contact with a second contact 30C which moves with battery compartment cover 30. When battery compartment cover 30 is aligned as shown in FIGS. 7 and 16, the circuit is closed and the power is conducted from battery 28B to light 26. When battery compartment cover 30 is not aligned as shown in FIGS. 7 and 16 and is unaligned as, for example, is shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, the circuit is open and no power is provided to light 26. Although not shown in FIGS. 5-8, indicia may be added to battery compartment cover 30 and second portion 20 to indicate when battery compartment cover 30 is in an “on position” or an “off position”.

As is shown in FIG. 8, when battery compartment cover 30 is rotated approximately 180 degrees clockwise to a third position, battery compartment cover 30 is able to be removed thereby exposing battery compartment 28BC and batteries 28B. The movements of battery compartment cover 30 described above may be reversed by replacing and re-threading battery compartment 30 to restore it to the second position shown in FIG. 7 and by further rotating battery compartment cover 30 counter-clockwise to restore it to the first position shown in FIG. 5 with the circuit open and the LED lights 26 off.

The placement of UV LED lights 26 may vary in some embodiments for the upper sidewall location shown in FIGS. 3, 9 and 12-15. Moreover, UV LED lights 26 may be replaced by a single UV LED light. UV LED lights should be selected so that, when illuminated, and when in close proximity to a fingernail FN with a fresh coat of gel polish as shown in FIG. 15, the gel cures in a time period on the order of one or two minutes.

A method for using gel curing fingernail polish bottle cap 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 12-15 with further reference to FIGS. 5-7. In FIGS. 5-7 and 12-15, second portion 20 of bottle cap 10 is removed from first portion 12. This opens cavity 24 and exposes UV LED lights 26. As can be seen in FIGS. 14 and 15, liquid, uncured gel polish G is applied to a fingernail FN of a finger F. After application of gel polish G, finger F is inserted into cavity 24 so that fingernail FN is in close proximity to UV LED lights 26 as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. Also after the application of gel polish G, battery compartment cover 30 is rotated from the first position shown in FIGS. 5 and 13 to the second position as shown in FIGS. 7 and 14. This causes the above described circuit to close and UV LED lights 26 to be activated to generate UV light L as indicated in FIGS. 14 and 15. Preferably, fingernail FN is held in close proximity to lights 26 as shown in FIG. 15 for approximately one minute or until gel polish G is sufficiently cured.

The above described UV LED gel curing nail polish bottle cap provides a simple and convenient device for curing gel nail polish as described above. This makes it possible for anyone at any time in any location to apply and cure durable gel polish. With this device, it is no longer necessary to resort to a salon or to purchase a traditional gel curing lamp for curing gel polish.

It is to be understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto, except in so far as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable equivalents thereof. 

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:
 1. A nail polish bottle cap, comprising: (a) a first portion which presents a nail polish brush suitable for applying nail polish to fingernails and toenails, the first portion presenting a set of female threads suitable for engaging the male threads of a nail polish bottle, (b) a second portion which is selectively removable from the first portion, the second portion including at least one UV LED light which is suitable for emitting UV light for curing gel nail polish, the UV LED light being in communication with a source of electricity within a circuit including a switch for selectively activating the UV LED light, whereby a user may remove the second portion of the cap from the first portion of the cap and activate the UV LED light of the second portion to illuminate a fingernail or toenail which is coated with uncured gel nail polish for the purpose of curing the gel nail polish.
 2. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 1, wherein: the at least one UV LED light is mounted in the interior of the second portion and the interior of the second portion and the at least one UV LED light are arranged such that the interior of the second portion is able to receive a fingertip so that the nail of the fingertip is in proximity to the at least one UV LED light and the fingernail is able to be illuminated by the UV LED light.
 3. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 1, wherein: the second portion presents a cavity suitable for receiving a fingertip or the end of a toe, the cavity having an inside wall and the at least one UV LED light is mounted on the inside wall of the cavity, the UV LED light being arranged so that the UV LED light is able to illuminate the fingernail or toenail of a fingertip or toe when the fingertip or toe is inserted into the cavity.
 4. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 2, wherein: the upper end of the second portion includes a battery compartment for receiving a battery.
 5. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 4, further comprising: a battery compartment and a battery compartment cover, the battery compartment cover being able to move between a first position and a second position, the battery compartment cover arranged with the circuit such that when the battery compartment cover is in a first position, the circuit is open thereby preventing the passage of electrical current to the at least one UV LED light and when the battery compartment cover is in a second position, the circuit is closed thereby allowing the passage of electrical current to the at least one UV LED light.
 6. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 5, wherein; the battery compartment and the battery compartment cover have corresponding threads for rotating movement of the battery compartment cover with respect to the battery compartment between the first and second positions and for removing the battery compartment cover from the battery compartment to facilitate the removal or replacement of at least one battery in the battery compartment.
 7. A nail polish bottle cap, comprising: (a) a first portion which presents a nail polish brush suitable for applying nail polish to fingernails and toenails, the first portion presenting a set of female threads suitable for engaging the male threads of a nail polish bottle, the first portion also presenting a brush suitable for applying nail polish to human fingernails or toenails, (b) a second portion which is selectively removable from the first portion, the second portion including presenting a cavity which is suitable for receiving the tip of a a human finger, the cavity having an inside wall, (c) at least one UV LED light mounted to the inside wall of the cavity of the second portion, the at least one UV LED light being suitable for emitting UV light for curing gel nail polish, the at least one UV LED light being arranged such that it is possible to insert a fingertip into the cavity of the second portion such that the nail of the fingertip is position such that the at least one UV LED light is able to illuminate the fingernail of the fingertip, the UV LED light being in communication with a source of electricity within a circuit including a switch for selectively activating the UV LED light, whereby a user may remove the second portion of the cap from the first portion of the cap, insert a fingertip with a fingernail bearing a fresh coat of gel nail polish into the cavity of the second portion and activate the UV LED light of the second portion to illuminate the fingernail with UV light for the purpose of curing the gel nail polish.
 8. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 7, wherein: the upper end of the second portion includes a battery compartment for receiving a battery.
 9. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 7, further comprising: a battery compartment and a battery compartment cover, the battery compartment cover being able to move between a first position and a second position, the battery compartment cover arranged with the circuit such that when the battery compartment cover is in a first position, the circuit is open thereby preventing the passage of electrical current to the at least one UV LED light and when the battery compartment cover is in a second position, the circuit is closed thereby allowing the passage of electrical current to the at least one UV LED light.
 10. The nail polish bottle cap of claim 7, wherein; the battery compartment and the battery compartment cover have corresponding threads for rotating movement of the battery compartment cover with respect to the battery compartment between the first and second positions and for removing the battery compartment cover from the battery compartment to facilitate the removal or replacement of at least one battery in the battery compartment. 